Expectations and Opportunities

With additional education comes higher expectations and opportunities. Spending a lot of money and time in classes should have its rewards. I never really had a sense of where it would take me but was optimistic about the opportunities.

Initially, there were more opportunities to do in-service for other teachers. Unfortunately, those things didn’t pay well. Additional education did move me along on the district salary schedule.

I did some writing in-services in the district. They weren’t as well received as I had hoped. Sometimes your colleagues are reluctant to give you credit for knowing something maybe they didn’t. Some were just jealous. Most were complimentary but there were a few who were downright nasty.

In-services I did outside the district were usually much better received. It was satisfying to get positive feedback about my efforts from other people in the profession.

I went to talk about the writing/reading connections at a meeting of the Tri-Area Reading Council. The meeting was held at the Winfield Mt. Union High School. I was on the agenda with another person. I knew the other person from graduate school and I knew he had a tremendous jealousy streak.

He was to give a brief overview of some things he was doing with his students and then I was to be the featured speaker. For some reason he did not want me to talk. He was prone to exaggeration and drew his time out to well over an hour. Most of the people in the meeting realized what he was doing was deliberate.

When he finally finished people were ready to go home. I gave a brief overview of what I had planned to say. I got several apologies from members of the group. Several joked with me about it for several years after that. The group did invite to speak to them a few years later. I did. It was a dinner held in Crawfordville and the offender was not invited.

In the fall of 1984 Great River Area Education Agency had an opening for a Language Arts consultant. I wanted to continue teaching 4th grade but they called me repeatedly and asked me to apply. I offered to do some contract consultant work for them but they decided they needed a full time person. I finally did apply and was interviewed. Not long after that they offered me the job.

It would have been a great opportunity except for some problems. Wanting me to move to Burlington was one of them. We liked Mt. Pleasant and didn’t like the idea of moving the girls. Some of the things they were doing I didn’t agree with and couldn’t see myself compromising. And lastly, and probably most importantly, they could only pay me what amounted to about a thousand dollars less than I was making in Mt. Pleasant and their benefits weren’t as good.

I was honored to be offered the job and sometimes, have wondered what would have transpired had I taken that job. As things turned out I am confident I made the right decision.